SCIENCE UPDATES

NEW Articles

Miller (2021) Association between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes.  Obstet Gynecol.  Study of 1274 women showed that those with 3+ ACEs have 1.55-fold increased odds of having hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and 2-fold increased odds of preterm birth.  Also this study again demonstrated the dose-dependent impact of childhood adversity:  the more severe the childhood adversity, the greater chance of preterm birth.

CLASSIC Articles

Francis (2017).  Racial discrimination and perinatal sleep quality.  Sleep Health.  Everyday racial discrimination is independently associated with poorer sleep quality among pregnant women and  with adverse perinatal outcomes. 

Smith MV (2016).  Early Childhood Adversity and Pregnancy Outcomes.  Matern Child Health J. Study of 2303 pregnant women using Early Trauma Inventory found that ACEs have an enduring effort on reproductive health, with each ACE associated with a decreased birth weight and shorter gestatational age.

Hills (2004)  The association between adverse childhood experiences and adolescent pregnancy, long-term psychosocial consequences, and fetal death.  Pediatrics .  Study of 9159 women aged 18+. Teen pregnancy strongly associated with childhood adversity in a dose-response relationship.   Women with no ACEs, 16% had a teenage pregnancy, while women with 7-8 ACEs, 53% had teenage pregnancy.  Childhood adversity was also associated with increased fetal death. 

More Articles

Yonkers (2014)  Pregnant women with posttraumatic stress disorder and risk of preterm birth.  JAMA Psychiatry.  2014.  Study of 2654 women followed from first trimester.  Women with PTSD and episode of major depression were at a 4-fold increased risk of preterm birth, independent of medication or mood.

Jacobs (2015). Adverse childhood event experiences, fertility difficulties, and menstrual cycle characteristics.  J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol.

Redman (2013) Stress responses and pre-eclampsia Pregnancy Hypertension